This article is part of a series Comparing CMS Platforms through the Lifecycle of a Website.
A successful website should lead to growth in your business. You can start with a simple site if you are on a budget, and then add features as you learn how to optimize your website for conversions and integrate your website into important business processes that save you money and improve customer satisfaction.
Flexible, Customizable and Scalable
Once you reach this point, you have already exceeded the limitations of Squarespace, Wix and Weebly. These platforms are not flexible and do not allow any customization of functionality. They will not grow with you. Wordpress is an open source platform that is flexible enough that you can hire third party developers to help you extend the CMS to meet your needs, but at its core it is still a blogging platform and you’ll need to hire and manage a team of contractors (hopefully they come well recommended).
Gutensite is designed from the ground up to make it easy and affordable to customize design and functionality from day one. The platform is built to scale. Customization is where it sets itself apart from all the other popular platforms. So when you build a simple site on Gutensite, you can know that it will grow with you.
Data Liberation & Vendor Lock-In
No platform is perfect for every website requirement. If your website outgrows the current platform, you need to think about how easy it is to migrate to a new platform. If you have a simple 5 page website, it’s not a big deal to recreate it. But if you have written one hundred blogs, and uploaded hundreds of documents and thousands of images, this is an important factor.
It is very important that you are not ever stuck with any vendor, in case your needs change or your relationship sours. Gutensite is committed to supporting you throughout the entire lifecycle of your website, because we want to see you successful, regardless if you use our platform forever. If you get to a point where Gutensite’s hosted platform is not sufficient to meet your needs, you have several options. Gutensite can port over your website to an independent dedicated server where you can continue (if desired) getting updates to the core platform and/or work with third party developers to continue growing your website on your own. Or we will export all your data, and files so that you can take your website content with you wherever you go.
Summary
So when you are trying to choose the best platform, look beyond the initial build phase and be sure to consider the entire lifecycle of your website. Remember that having a great platform only matters if you end up with a great final website. Think big, and make sure you build a website that accomplishes your goals and adds real value to your business or nonprofit. Also remember that the team that builds and helps you maintain your website is just as important as the tool you use. We would love to talk to you about your goals and offer expert suggestions about how to accomplish those goals. So if you want help, please call us!